It’s nothing but colonialism by failed hipsters who can’t hack it in London and want to transplant their posturing lifestyle to somewhere a bit edgy – in other words, cheaper – and in the process wreck the place and drive the locals out. I know Hastings and St Leonards well, and they’re being ruined by the influx of these pompous arrivistes, who sit around all day drinking coffee, discussing beard oil, Free Palestine and the arts. St Leonards used to have shops where you could buy stuff you needed. Now it’s all galleries, vintage and retro and shops run as pretend businesses by Hackney refugee smugsters playing at work. Just about the only sanctuary they haven’t managed to infect is Wetherspoons.
Someone once told me that there’s an acronym Hastings people use nowadays for obnoxious metropolitan incomers: the Filth (Failed in London, Tried Hastings).
Ouch.
Like it. Spot on. Never seen so many mockney cockneys in me life all pretending to be artisans and saying “alwight mate, luvvly jubbly, custhy wushty.”. It’s like everyone who failed to get on to Jay Blades’ Repair Shop TV programme has ended up in Hastings.
Adam M
21 days ago
Similar situation in Portsmouth these days. Interesting to see how the city has changed over the years I’ve known it. In the last decade house prices have more or less doubled. While Southsea has become a bizarre mix of fancy bars and restaurants, with a smattering of original pubs and shops. Which are slowly disappearing under the pressure of increased rents. While an equally strange mix of hipsters, students, homeless, unemployed and temporarily housed recent immigrants roam the streets.
A D Kent
21 days ago
Here in Hove, which had a head-start of about 20 years in it’s DFLer (Down-From-London-er) transformation we’re at the stage where local primary schools are closing due to lack of numbers. People of the age to have young families simply can’t afford to live around here anymore. This is a tragedy as the City of Brighton and Hove is, by some considerable distance, the greatest place to live on Earth.
Simon James
20 days ago
There’s an NHS hospital in the Hastings area called Conquest. If you’re that relaxed about hostile takeovers it’s not surprising you can’t muster much resistance to more benign ones.
Alan Bright
19 days ago
“For those who own a home in the area…higher property prices are obviously a good thing.” – hmm, owning a home doesn’t necessarily mean you want higher property prices. Speak to couples with two children who own a two-bedroom flat; speak to your own children who want somewhere to buy. Higher property prices benefit only old people in large houses.
Matthew Freedman
15 days ago
I’ve been to Folkestone recently and could have been seen as one of those hipsters, even though I was just visiting. Yeah the richer and poorer congregate in their own enclaves in the town. But I live on an island, surely I must be able visit the sea? I didn’t take up anyones housing.
It’s nothing but colonialism by failed hipsters who can’t hack it in London and want to transplant their posturing lifestyle to somewhere a bit edgy – in other words, cheaper – and in the process wreck the place and drive the locals out. I know Hastings and St Leonards well, and they’re being ruined by the influx of these pompous arrivistes, who sit around all day drinking coffee, discussing beard oil, Free Palestine and the arts. St Leonards used to have shops where you could buy stuff you needed. Now it’s all galleries, vintage and retro and shops run as pretend businesses by Hackney refugee smugsters playing at work. Just about the only sanctuary they haven’t managed to infect is Wetherspoons.
Great comment, and especially the ending.
Someone once told me that there’s an acronym Hastings people use nowadays for obnoxious metropolitan incomers: the Filth (Failed in London, Tried Hastings).
Ouch.
Like it. Spot on. Never seen so many mockney cockneys in me life all pretending to be artisans and saying “alwight mate, luvvly jubbly, custhy wushty.”. It’s like everyone who failed to get on to Jay Blades’ Repair Shop TV programme has ended up in Hastings.
Similar situation in Portsmouth these days. Interesting to see how the city has changed over the years I’ve known it. In the last decade house prices have more or less doubled. While Southsea has become a bizarre mix of fancy bars and restaurants, with a smattering of original pubs and shops. Which are slowly disappearing under the pressure of increased rents. While an equally strange mix of hipsters, students, homeless, unemployed and temporarily housed recent immigrants roam the streets.
Here in Hove, which had a head-start of about 20 years in it’s DFLer (Down-From-London-er) transformation we’re at the stage where local primary schools are closing due to lack of numbers. People of the age to have young families simply can’t afford to live around here anymore. This is a tragedy as the City of Brighton and Hove is, by some considerable distance, the greatest place to live on Earth.
There’s an NHS hospital in the Hastings area called Conquest. If you’re that relaxed about hostile takeovers it’s not surprising you can’t muster much resistance to more benign ones.
“For those who own a home in the area…higher property prices are obviously a good thing.” – hmm, owning a home doesn’t necessarily mean you want higher property prices. Speak to couples with two children who own a two-bedroom flat; speak to your own children who want somewhere to buy. Higher property prices benefit only old people in large houses.
I’ve been to Folkestone recently and could have been seen as one of those hipsters, even though I was just visiting. Yeah the richer and poorer congregate in their own enclaves in the town. But I live on an island, surely I must be able visit the sea? I didn’t take up anyones housing.